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First I wanted to thank everyone here for their help and recommendations for our new (in progress) tank.

We just bought a bag of river rocks (in a bag labeled 'Gravel') for $7 from Loew's compared to what we were going to buy from Aquarium Services for about $30.

We also saved a bundle on some granite/agate rocks we are going to use for a basking area by collecting them in nearby development areas (prior to any real construction going on, there are all types of rocks being cleared) rather than paying about $60 for just about the same thing at the local A.S.

Anyways, to the point. I was shocked to see the prices for power bars with timers built-in (about $50 at pet stores) so we decided just to get a cheap switched power bar at Walmart and figured that we would eventually get a timer separately for the lights. When we looked at the stuff at Walmart I was very surprised to see the exact same power bar with digital timer (that we had seen at pet stores) for only $14.97. The only difference was the "Wood's" brand model TD8000 at Walmart vs. other brands at petstores. It has 4 outlets on 1 switch, and 4 outlets on a timed program (up to 7 days or the same every day).

Apparently the petstore variety (for $35 more!) have 4 outlets on 2 timed programs (day program, night program) and 4 outlets on 1 switch, but are otherwise identical as far as I can tell.

Here is a low-res pic...

Yeah, most pet stores have serious markup, esp. in the reptile/fish area. I have just a regular power strip with a separate timer that I got at Walmart, because I'm wary of multitaskers (like DVD/VCR combos). And you can get river rocks generally at the dollar store for a pretty good price too, in case you need to grab some more.

Good price find on your part!

Yeah, I have read a lot of bad reviews on the strip timers from Zilla and other brands. I would shy away from them.

I bought a seperate digital lamp timer that was about $12 bucks. I then plugged it into my power strip.

Glad you didn't fork over the $50 for a powerstrip w/timer! Thanks for the heads up. I probably went the cheapest way of all. I got a plain vanilla power strip and use a $5 timer from Lowes for the lights.

You didn't ask, but i need to caution you about using stone or rocks for the basking area. Turtle's plastrons aren't really designed for rough, hard surfaces - in the wild they tend to bask on logs or muddy banks. I used what I thought was a smooth stone (flagstone) for Spot's basking area but it injured his shell. Right now when he's outside he basks on cork bark - which makes a very nice basking surface for a turtle.

Thanks for the info SpotsMama. I had read a little about the need to ensure that any rocks we use are smooth with no sharp edges, but we are still new to turtles, so I appreciate any suggestions at this point.

Based on other posts I have been reading, we will likely move to an above tank basking area at some point in the future. I was thinking that cork bark might make a good ramp/basking area, and you have now confirmed that as a good idea. Thanks.